


Must Love Cats

by olddarkmachine



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, BUT AFTER THAT IT'S ALL NEW CONTENT WHADDUUUUUUP, F/M, Fluff, THE FIRST CHAPTER IS A REPOST TO GET IT ALL IN SPOT, also please don't be turned off my by inability to write story summaries, at least currently in the mock up they make appearances, but the other three make slight appearances, it's literally the hardest thing i have to do, mostly just gajevy if we're being honest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-16
Updated: 2017-08-06
Packaged: 2018-11-01 16:07:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 21,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10925307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/olddarkmachine/pseuds/olddarkmachine
Summary: Levy hadn’t planned on being a pet sitter when she’d moved into the city. She also hadn’t planned on pet sitting for a sex god either, but here she was.AKA the one where Levy is a pet sitter, Gajeel is her client, and Lily is the glue that binds them together.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> So it turns out people really liked the idea of the Pet Sitter!AU, which is good, because I really liked it too. I’ll most likely shoot for updating this thing once a week. (Most likely on Wednesdays given they’re my days off.) But this week we’ll make an exception since Chapter One doesn’t really count since it’s just the prompt from the Gajevy Week Challenge that got us onto this idea to begin with. Expect the actual new chapter within the next day or two! Also, I love to get feedback, so if at any point you’d like to throw me some constructive criticism or some love, hit a girl up! Thanks in advance for swinging by, and a special shoutout and thank you to those who read the original warmup prompt from the Gajevy Week and asked for more! Y’all the true MVPs and this one is for you <3

As far as jobs went, being a pet sitter wasn’t all too bad. Sure, the days were long if you actually wanted to make any money, and the driving all over the place sucked, but the freedom of being able to work when you wanted and to be paid to hangout with other people’s pets honestly made up for it. Levy had been a pet sitter for about six months now and while she certainly hadn’t moved into the city to do it, it was paying the bills while she was pitching her movie ideas around town. Weirdly enough, she’d ended up pet sitting for big names in the industry and though she never actually met any of them– they probably wouldn’t need her services if they were home– it did seem pretty cool to know she was still just one degree away.

The house she was currently headed to was one of her regulars. The owner, one Mr. Gajeel Redfox, had been gone for about two months now and requested that he have the same sitter as much as possible. Given that she worked six days a week, the man’s visits ended up on her schedule more often than not. She was going to really miss seeing Pantherlily almost everyday when his owner finally returned. (Now that she thought about it, she was sure he was supposed to be home soon.) He almost felt like her cat at this point. In fact, she almost felt like she even knew this Redfox character too. She could deduce from the dark furniture, clothes abandoned in various areas around the apartment, and lack of sentimental items such as photos that he was most likely a bachelor. A bachelor with money given he had an apartment overlooking the ocean with walls made entirely of windows just to look out over them, and the ability to pay for visits twice a day for two months straight. She quickly did the math in her head as she pulled into a guest parking spot in the parking garage for the man’s apartment complex and shuddered. She could pay her rent in her apartment with her three roommates for almost five months with what he’d paid for the visits for so long.

“Must be nice,” she mumbled to herself as she hopped out of her car. Locking the door and clipping her keys to her belt loop– she had a really nasty habit of locking her keys in her car and learned this was the best way to avoid anymore unfortunate incidents– she pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head and on top of her scarf she had had tied around her azure hair to keep it pulled back. Walking into the lobby through the door in the garage, she nodded to the man at the counter as she sauntered by. He’d stopped having her sign in after a few weeks, knowing full well that she had the code to the lockbox on the Redfox residence’s door and that if she did do something terrible the security could easily apprehend her. (Her small frame was both a blessing and a curse with this job, not that she would ever steal from a client, but it would be nice to know she could at least have a small semblance of a chance to get away if she did.)

She got into the elevator and pressed the button for the 5th floor and waited for the short ride up. Levy admired herself in the reflection of the mirrored elevator, and chuckled to herself as she took in her disheveled hair that tried to escape her scarf, the worn jeans with a stain from an earlier visit and her shirt emblazoned with her company’s logo. The first time she’d arrived to this visit she had been so self conscious and had felt so out of place. She had been certain that for a second the people at the front must have thought she was a homeless person wandering into their lobby, especially since she distinctly remembered she hadn’t showered that day and had pulled on her oldest pair of sneakers and some sweats. It wasn’t like the pets cared if she tried, but had she’d known she was going to end up some place like this, she would have at least brushed her hair. How quickly that had changed with time. Now she felt almost like she was returning to her own home. It helped that she always started her days and ended her days with Lily. It was just a short walk from the elevator to the front door, where she quickly pushed the numbers into the box so she could open the little door that would allow her to get the key.

As she started to unlock the door, she heard the purring that signaled the black cat was awaiting her just on the other side and the sound filled her with joy. His owner wasn’t one to respond to updates, but he had replied once and all he had said was that Lily didn’t like just anybody. That was pretty obvious just by looking over the updates that had been sent in on the days Levy didn’t work as the sitter that covered her shifts when she wasn’t working had yet to meet Lily at all.

“Hello handsome,” she cooed as she pushed her way into the apartment. The Bombay purred again in response as he started to rub himself against her legs. Squatting down, she started to pet him to make sure he remembered that even though his owner still wasn’t home he was still very much loved. “You’re the best way to end the day, ya know.”

“So I’ve been told,” a deep voice replied. Now, Levy liked to think she was very rational. When faced with a problem, she was very level headed, and thought through every possible scenario of what could happen and every possible solution to find the right one. But in that moment, the only possible explanation that came to her mind was that Lily had just responded to her. Which, was definitely new to say the least. She stared at the cat wide-eyed for a fraction of a second longer before the logical part of her brain realized she wasn’t the only human in the apartment. An inhuman squeak that could probably only be heard by Lily and any other animals in the close vicinity escaped her lips as her head snapped up to see a very tall, very muscular, and very half naked man standing in the entrance between the living area and the bedroom where Lily’s stuff could be found. He had long black hair that looked almost as unruly as hers was, eyes that seemed to stare straight through her, and more piercings than should could count. (And that was just from what she could see. Not that she was thinking about any she might not be able to see. Except, he was very attractive.)

“I-” she started, before locking eyes with the man and completely losing her train of thought. After another couple of seconds she just placed her hand on her chest and said “Pet sitter.”

 _Wow Lev_ , she thought to herself as dryly as one can possibly think to themselves, _you write entire movies with their own worlds and characters and you can’t even string together a full sentence_. There was another long pause before the man burst out into raucous laughter.

“I am so sorry,” he said, smiling at her. His smile was like the smile of a devil, beautiful and dangerous. “I forgot to inform your office that I was getting home early and that I didn’t need the visit this evening.”

This was when she should respond, she knew that. It was just that that damn smile had erased any thoughts from her mind, at least all the ones that wouldn’t get her in trouble for saying out loud. Even that annoying ass voice in her mind was dumbfounded. It was possible that since it had been so long since she’d even had any contact with the opposite sex, but he was the single most sexy human being she had ever seen. It was that, or she was cat sitting for an actual sex god. That was also a possibility. After everything they’d been though, you’d have thought Lily would have told her.

“Since you’re here, if you want you can still spend the 30 minutes with him. You don’t need to feed him or anything, I already took care of that,” the sex god continued, apparently unaware he had the power to strike mere mortals speechless. “You must be the girl he seems to love. He’s a great judge of character, you know.”

That snapped her out of the trance as a smile broke across her face.

“Thanks!” She beamed in response. “I love this little guy. I’m not supposed to pick favorites, but between you and me, he’s mine.” She stage whispered at the end and winked. Oh god, what had even gotten into her. She looked back at Lily and smiled at him as well before scratching behind his ears. Had she continued looking at his owner, she’d have seen the blush that spread across his cheeks.

“Well, make yourself at home, I suspect you know where water is if you’d like to have some,” Gajeel said. “I just got back and was headed for the shower, feel free to leave early if you want, just lock up when you go.” She nodded in response as he turned to go back into the room. She sat down next to Lily, who at this point had laid down and rolled over to get his belly scratched. “Oh, and Levy?” Her heart leapt when she heard her name roll off his tongue.

“Yeah?” She asked, looking up. The man smiled that damn smile again.

“Thanks for taking such good care of Lil while I was away. I know I’m not supposed to pick favorites either, but between you and me, you’re mine.”

And with that, he went back into his room, unaware that he had just completely stopped her heart and left her there like she wasn’t going to need medical attention. Once she heard the water turn on in the bathroom, she looked down at Lily, who was looking up at her and wondering why she’d stopped scratching his belly.

“You really could have warned me about your owner looking like that.”

****

He knew that the sitter would be gone by the time he got out of his shower, but that didn’t stop him from being slightly disappointed when he got out of his shower and saw Lily curled up on the foot of his bed all by himself. He didn’t want to say he was jealous of a fucking cat, but here he was jealous that his cat got to spend so much time with such a breathtaking human being.

“God dammit, Lil,” he growled as his heart stuttered when he thought of her wink. “You really could have warned me about your sitter looking like that.”


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a touch shorter than originally planned. I realize it's a bit early to be saying that, and I swear it isn't a cop out! The original chapter plan fell through because it didn't feel like it fit so I had to change the game plan a touch. So as of right now we're looking at 10 chapters, and hopefully this will be the last of the shorter ones. As always, thank you so much for taking the time to stop by and read what I have to write!

It had been a few weeks since the fateful meeting with Panther Lily’s owner, and though she’d only met him for a total of five minutes, she’d still managed to dream about him six times since. (Yes, she was aware that was crazy. Trust her, she knew.) Her roommates-- Lucy, Juvia and Erza-- had all jumped at the opportunity to question her about it as soon as she’d returned home, which had caused her to really regret that roommate group chat they had. She’d recounted the story to them, nonetheless, sparing no detail of the five minute encounter with the man that was now widely regarded in their apartment as the Kitty Cat Sex God. The days following had been the worst, as every day when she came home she was asked about him in some measure, and every day she’d reply that she wasn’t watching Panther Lily right now since his owner was home. The questions had ceased more or less now that it was three weeks since, but she was starting to feel a little down about the whole thing. Of course she knew that it could be quite some time before she took care of the Bombay again, and that even when she did take care of him again he would be alone, but all she could think about was his owner’s stupid face.

 

It didn’t help that that night after their encounter, Gajeel had responded to her latest update saying, and she quoted, “Thank you for taking such good care of Lily! Hopefully we’ll see you again soon.” We’ll. Plural. At the time it had felt almost like maybe something from a movie, which, okay maybe that was just her screenwriter mind running away from her. Now, though, three weeks removed from it all she couldn’t help but feel like maybe it had just felt like a moment because she-- as Lucy had pointed out ever so helpfully-- hadn’t been with someone in years. And that someone had been her screenwriting TA named Freed and a one night stand after a night of terrible alcohol decisions. All which, she’d reminded Lucy, had been the blonde’s doing. 

 

She sighed loudly as she continued her walk with the giant Akita/Mastiff mix she was currently taking care of. If she noticed that he just happened to live a few buildings down from Panther Lily and Gajeel, well, it wasn’t like she would ever admit it. _Get it together, Lev_ , she mentally chided herself as she caught her mind wandering back to the image of the cat owner standing shirtless in his bedroom doorway, shirtless and with his lounge pants slung oh so low. _If anyone could read your mind right now they’d not only think you were a creep, but they’d probably never let you watch their pets and then you’d be homeless_. If she hadn’t been so deep in her thoughts, she probably would have noticed the large dog eyeing a cat that was ahead of them. Be that as it may, she was deep in thought and suddenly the Akita/Mastiff was taking off at full speed, completely dragging her behind him. A shriek tore from her mouth as she somehow managed to stay on her feet as the near 200 pound dog was running her out towards the beach after the cat.

 

“Hotdog, stop!” She yelled, both cursing the dog for being so freaking big and also the owner for naming his large mutt something as ridiculous as Hotdog. It wasn’t bad enough to have people staring at her as her small, 5 foot, 100 pound self was literally dragged down the street, they had to hear her yelling “Hotdog, stop!” By some grace of dog walking god, she managed to keep her feet under her as he continued to running, barking the entire way. There was no way for her to gain any traction to try and stop him, and the leash had tightened around her wrist in a way she knew was definitely going to bruise. “Hotdog!” She yelled again, throwing every ounce of authority into her voice that she could muster, to no avail. Thought it had seemed everyone had picked up on the idea that they should get out of the way, she could see a man with their back towards them dead ahead of them and if he didn’t move, they were undoubtedly going to run straight into him. The man was shirtless and wearing basketball shorts, which she was sure meant he’d just been running, as most people tended to do out by the beach. The poor guy probably didn’t expect he’d be run over by a giant dog on his run. His black hair was pulled up into a ponytail, and there was something about the shape of his shoulders that tugged at Levy’s memory. 

 

“Hey!” She yelled out to him. “Hey guy! Get out of the way!” He didn’t budge at all, and she was closing in on him fast. “C’mon, get out of the way!” Right before they hit, she wondered if she could possibly get hit with a charge for manslaughter if they guy got killed. Death by runaway dog. What a way to go. Her body smashed right into his back at full force and hitting him was almost how she imagined it felt to be hit by a car. Everything went black as all the air was knocked out of her lungs and for a second she’d wondered if she’d gone blind from the impact. 

 

“What the fuck?” An oddly familiar voice shouted, the sound filling her ears as she tried to take stock of her limbs. She hadn’t gone blind, she’d realized, she’d just clenched her eyes shut on impact. One at a time, she opened them to see that somehow she was still upright, and thankfully she was standing still. She was sticking to the sweat of the guy’s back but her arm was still attached and Hotdog was still on the leash, so she was going to count this as a win.

 

“I am so sorry,” Levy said as she peeled herself off his back, not entirely sure how he’d managed to keep them from toppling over but being incredibly thankful.

 

“Levy?” Every muscle in her body froze as she realized why the voice sounded familiar. Suddenly the idea of being killed in a freak runaway dog incident didn’t seem so awful. Maybe if she just didn’t answer and ran in the other direction as quickly as possible, she could get away with him not knowing she was the person that had just tried to mow him down. Of course, Hotdog was now laying on the ground and panting as if this whole situation wasn’t his fault and he deserved to lay down after that. They were definitely going to have a stern talk when she got him home. “Levy, are you okay?” Gajeel was turning around and honestly, she may have been in shock because wasn’t she supposed to be the one asking him that? At this point he was completely facing her, and dammit she was staring at him in all his half naked glory again. She was wondering if he might have an aversion to shirts. His eyes were on her expectantly, waiting for an answer.

 

“I’m fine!” She squeaked as she jumped back, the leashing around her wrist tugging against the skin and causing her to wince. Her eyes flickered down to it to see the area under the fabric of the leash was an angry red color that was already starting to turn a fine shade of purple. Gajeel’s eyes followed hers. “It’s you I should be asking that! Are you okay?” Hotdog’s gaze was full of judgment as he stared at the exchange from where he lay a few feet away. As if he knew anything, damn dog. 

 

“Aside from thinking I was being jumped, I’m fine,” he-- Gajeel, not Hotdog-- replied, still staring down at her wrist. His gaze met hers for a moment as if looking for permission before gingerly grabbing her hand to examine her wrist. The touch sent a jolt of electricity through her fingers and her heart hammered against her ribs. Maybe she’d actually died on impact and this was her hell. “This is going to be one hell of a bruise, and there’s a bit of swelling already.” His fingers were light as they slowly pushed the leash back. A quick survey of the area around her alerted her to the fact they’d drawn quite a few confused gazes, and she wondered if any of them would have been as helpful if they’d been her and Hotdog’s victim. Of course, if one of them had been who they’d flown into, maybe she wouldn’t be noticing things like the way the sun glinted off the metal of Gajeel’s nose ring, or the way a bead of sweat was rolling its way down the arch of his collarbone. She started to feel her face get hot and she quickly pulled her hand back.

 

“I’m fine!” Levy said again, switching the leash to her other wrist and then giving it a firm pull to signal Hotdog that it was time to get up and go home. Hotdog did not budge, and the bluenette was certain now that she was in hell. Gajeel shook his head as he turned to the mutt that lay on the ground, and leant forward to let him sniff his hand before patting him on the head. 

 

“C’mon, pup,” he said as he slid two fingers under Hotdog’s collar and slightly pulled upward, leading the dog to a standing position. “Don’t give Levy anymore trouble.” With a quick pat on the massive animal’s head, he stood and turned back to her. “I’ve got some ice packs and binding at home if you want to stop by once you’re done with him.” He said it so easily, as if he wasn’t suggesting something that would only fuel those ridiculous dreams she had, and her ridiculous roommates. The adrenaline was starting to wear off though, and her wrist was starting to throb quite painfully. 

 

“I think I just might,” Levy replied before she even realized what she was saying. Gajeel then nodded to her and started to walk in the direction of his complex. 

 

“See you in a bit,” he replied over his shoulder. She wasn’t sure how long she’d stood there with her four-legged companion, but she did know it was long enough for Gajeel to disappear amongst the other bystanders on the street. What had even just happened? Levy turned to Hotdog, who looked as confused as she felt. 

 

“You should at least take some responsibility,” she said to him, her voice sounding disgruntled. “You are definitely not getting a treat when we get home.” She concentrated on getting one foot in front of the other as her and the dog headed back home. 

 

****

 

Gajeel’s heart was still racing when he got to the elevator in the lobby. He could still feel the azure haired sitter pressed against his back, which wasn’t actually too shocking since she had run into him at full speed. If she wasn’t so small, he may have actually toppled over. It had been quite the shock to the system to run into her that way, and he certainly hadn’t expected his daily run to end with her hazel eyes and him stupidly telling her she could come over once she was done to be patched up. She probably thought he was some sort of creep for not only offering, but for being able to recognize her voice so easily. He hadn’t been able to get her out of his head since they’d met though, something he was certain he shouldn’t admit. The elevator doors opened, letting him out on his floor and he walked straight to his apartment. He didn’t want to get his hopes up that she would actually show up, but he did at least want to get a shirt on before she arrived. Lily meowed a welcome home-- at least he’d like to think it was a welcome home-- when he walked in.

 

“We’re might have a guest in a bit, Lil,” Gajeel said as if the black cat could answer him. It made him feel better all the same. The Bombay’s eyes followed him as he walked towards his room. “Keep your judgement to yourself,” the man growled in response.

 

****

 

Levy was standing outside the door she knew well, wondering if she should knock. A sharp stab of pain rocked through her wrist. She should definitely knock. Not because of Gajeel, of course, because that would be crazy and weird, but because that ice pack sounded like a total dream right about now. _Just freaking knock on the door_ , she heard Lucy’s voice say in her head. With a sigh, she lifted her uninjured arm and rapped three times on the door.


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, real talk, I have a really bad habit of completely ignoring the in between stuff like the actual development that gets people from point A to point B. It’s something I need to work on. That being said, this chapter began as something completely different until I realized how impractical it was to have the chapter I’d originally intended. (I’m still getting back into the swing of things and I don’t wanna rush stuff, ya feel?) That being said this chapter is just development type. I apologize now if it’s boring. Unfortunately I need to work on my creation of the boring stuff, and we cannot just jump over the boring stuff. (Though I wish I could cuz ya girl has the hardest time writing the boring stuff wah)

Levy hadn’t thought this through. The adrenaline of the near death experience had clouded her judgment and made her think that only good things could come of taking Gajeel up on his offer. But now, as she sat on a stool at his bar staring at his back– his unfortunately clothed back– as he dug in his cabinet looking for his first aid kit, she knew all that could follow would be mental anguish. The kind of mental anguish that accompanies a face like the one Gajeel has. She wasn’t proud to say that she definitely considered making a run for it. Which, of course, was when he decided to turn around.

“So,” he started, the god sent ice packet in one hand and a roll of athletic tape in the other as he walked towards her and pulled out the stool next to her. The word hung in the air.

“So,” Levy echoed, watching him intently as he popped the inner bag of the ice pack and shook it before handing it to her to press to her wrist.

“So do you make a habit of running into runners on your walks?” He smirked, a devious glint in his eye. She wasn’t sure if she would rather punch the smirk off his face, or kiss it off.

“Depends, do you make a habit of patching up runaway dog victims?” It was childish, sure, but Levy never claimed to be mature. Gajeel laughed and shook his head before he propped his elbow on the bar and rest his cheek against his hand, keeping his eyes trained on her and sending shivers down her spine.

“Touche.” A comfortable silence settled over them, disturbed only by the quiet lapping of Panther Lily as he at dinner. The space between them started to grow dense as a strange electric charge started to stir deep within her. It didn’t help that his eyes were still intently on her, staring at her in a way that made her shift in her seat. If she didn’t know better, she would think he was staring straight through her skin.

“What do you do?” She heard herself ask suddenly. Levy had never been very good with awkward silences or weird tension, and though she wasn’t certain what type of tension was filling the space between them, she knew she didn’t want to dwell on it for long. Gajeel, to his credit, just gave her an inquisitive look. The lights from his hanging kitchen lights caught his eyes, making the amber color of his corneas glint an almost red color. They were the most mesmerizing color she’d ever seen to be honest. “Like, for work? I’ve always wondered.” The words sounded lame, even to her, but if he thought they were, he didn’t show it. Sitting up, he grabbed the athletic bandage and started to work on untangling it.

“I’m a writer for Stage Magazine,” he replied nonchalantly. She felt her jaw drop as he continued to untangle the bandage, acting as if it wasn’t a big deal at all that he wrote for the biggest music magazine in the country, if not the world. Levy didn’t follow music all too closely, but even she knew Stage Magazine is the magazine. “I usually end up on tour with bands for a month or two and then write features on them. Aha!” Gajeel ended his answer with a triumphant shout as he undid the final knot in the binding.

“That’s amazing! No wonder you’re always gone for so long!” Was Levy aware she sounded a bit like a fangirl? Sure. But she couldn’t help it. Gajeel chuckled lowly and shook his head again before he gently grabbed her hand and pulled her injured wrist closer to him and rested it on his knee. Levy’s brain went completely blank. She could feel the muscle beneath her hand through the thin fabric of his basketball shorts. His skin was so warm too. If she slid her hand just a lit bit up…

Get it together, Lev, she chastised herself as she shook the very inappropriate image from her mind. Keep conversation going, ya pervert.

“What do you do?” Gajeel’s voice cut off her mental chatter. He didn’t even look up from where his eyes were trained on her wrist as he expertly started wrapping the binding around it.

“Uh, I pet sit?” She said matter-of-factly. You’d think he’d know this. Maybe she did do some damage when she ran into him.

“Obviously, short stack,” her heart stuttered at the nickname, “I mean what do you do though. I doubt pet sitting is what you dreamed of doing.” She winced, both as he tightened the wrap and touched a sore topic. He wasn’t wrong, she didn’t move into the city to become a dog walker. Who would? She’d graduated summa cum laude with a Master’s degree in Screenwriting and a Bachelors degree in Film Production. So no, pet sitting? Not the dream. That didn’t mean she didn’t recognize that she still needed something to keep a roof over her head and food on the table while she peddled her scripts around town. When she’d moved to the city to live with the girls after Cana had moved out, the bluenette had been excited about all the possibilities her future held. Now though, she was losing faith in herself and her scripts. Not that she didn’t know that it was crazy to think she’d have succeeded in getting one picked up six months in but she’d thought she’d at least have gotten the chance to speak to someone. So far she’d only been able to meet with receptionists and rejection letters.

“I’m a screenwriter,” she finally replied, voice small as she focused her eyes on his busy hands. With any luck, he wouldn’t pick up on the change in her voice.

“A movie girl, huh!” He tugged at the wrap to make sure it was secure before fastening it. His fingers delicately brushed the edges down of the bandage, causing goosebumps to race up her arm. Stupid body giving her away like this.

“At least I’m trying.” Even to her, her voice sounded lackluster. Gajeel’s amber eyes finally looked up from his work, his large hand covering her small one and squeezing slightly. The electric current between them started to buzz again. Levy’s breath hitched, unable to look away. She felt herself being drawn towards him.

“It’s a tough industry to break into,” his voice was lower than normal as his gaze continued to make her blood burn. “You’ll make it, Lev, you just gotta have some faith.” She wasn’t sure if it was the fact he’d just called her Lev, that damn current, or the fact that his hand was still wrapped around hers, but it was almost as if time stopped around them. If she didn’t know better, she’d think he was leaning in towards her too. Gajeel’s eyes flicked down to her lips and then back up to meet her honey gaze as if he was asking for permission. If she could make her stupid mouth work, she’d probably have yelled that whatever it was he was asking for he could freaking take it. Levy felt her eyes start to close in anticipation as the distance between them grew ever smaller.

It was then that Lily decided to jump into her lap. The sound Levy made wasn’t a scream so much as a panicked cry. At least that’s what she told herself. If you asked Gajeel, he’d tell you she screamed bloody murder, causing him to wonder if he should let his neighbors know he wasn’t actually killing anyone in his apartment. The pair pulled apart quickly, the bubble around them that had blocked everything out finally burst.

 

“Mew,” Lily said, rubbing his head under Levy’s chin. If she didn’t love this cat so much, she’d have considered killing him. Cockblocked by a cat, just her luck.

“Looks like someone doesn’t like not getting all the attention,” Gajeel growled as he begrudgingly reached out to pet his cat’s head. Somebody was going to get an earful later. He wasn’t going to say who, but somebody. Levy wrapped her arms around the Bombay and hugged him to her chest as she willed her heartbeat to calm down.

“Don’t worry, Lily, you’re still my favorite guy,” she said with a laugh, hoping Gajeel wouldn’t notice that her face was beet red. At least, she assumed it was given how hot it felt. He clutched his heart as he feigned being hurt.

“Ya save a girl from losing her arm, and she still chooses the other guy,” he said dramatically. The bluenette couldn’t help but laugh.

“Stupid Gajeel,” she muttered into the Bombay’s fur. As he stood, Gajeel’s hand came down on top of her head as he ruffled her hair gently.

“Well, you’re all patched up, short stack.” There was that damn nickname again. “Try not to take anymore people out, okay?”

“But I’ve got such a good nurse,” Levy said, looking up at Gajeel and smiling in what she hoped was a flirtatious manner. She watched as he faltered, a small blush dusting his cheeks before he composed himself.

“Just one of my many talents,” he shot back, finishing her off with a wink. If this had been a boxing match, this was where he would have landed the knockout hit. Now it was time for Levy to make her escape before she ended up in some kind of trouble. Gently lifting Lily off her lap, she set him on the counter before hopping off the stool. She extended her good hand out to him.

“Thank you, Gajeel,” she said as she waited for him to shake her hand. Laughing, he just shook his head before taking her hand and shaking it. Without saying anything, he turned towards the counter and grabbed a slip of paper and a pen and jotted something down.

“Not a problem, shorty,” he said when he turned back towards her and handed her the paper. Across it were 10 digits in unruly writing. “Give me a quick shout if it starts to give you any problems.” Levy’s hand closed around the number, nodding slightly as she took it. Placing it into her pocket, she muttered a farewell and headed towards the door.

The number was burning in her pocket as she pressed the elevator button and pressed her head against the cool wall. There were three things in which Levy was absolutely certain. The first being that she would have to take back everything she’d said to Hotdog and thank him. The second being that Gajeel was most likely going to be the death of her. The third being that she was completely, and irrevocably, fucked.


	4. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies again if this is a bit boring. I had to get things set up and after this we are into the good stuff! Which, if what I've been excited to get into. So if y'all can stick it out through just this last chapter of boring stuff, we'll be good to go!

Sitting around the dining table were the four usual suspects. To her left was Lucy, her blonde hair piled on top of her head in a messy bun and the edges of her eye makeup smudged slightly from a long day of dealing with customers at her boutique. To her right was Juvia, who was still in her lifeguard bathing suit with a pair of denim shorts pulled on over it. At the other end of the table sat Erza, who had a smudge of dirt from the last hike she’d led that day across the apple of her cheek. And of course, Levy, who had called her roommates together for their little game. 

 

The game in question had come about a few months after they’d set up the chore wheel on their fridge when Lucy had come home and exclaimed that no one would believe the day she’d had at work, and that because of it she shouldn’t have to do the dishes after dinner. This, of course, had devolved into a competition to see who had had the crazier story to tell for the day, and the winner got to sit out of their chores for that night. The rules themselves were quite simple. Every roommate got one chance to call a game a week-- something they’d decided on after Erza had gotten out of chores nearly every night for two weeks straight-- and they would all sit down together at dinner and go around telling their crazy story for the day with the game caller going last. They would then all vote on who had the best story, and the other three would share the chore that the winner got to sit out on. Erza, as a hiking guide at the state park, almost always won with tales of defeating some sort of horrifying nature on that day’s hike. Lucy held the second place spot though Levy sometimes wondered if it was fair she won as often as she did given she worked with boyfriend-- not boyfriend if you were Lucy-- Natsu and almost all her stories were thanks to him, but a crazy story was a crazy story so they let it slide. Juvia, who actually happened to lifeguard at the beach near Gajeel’s apartment, probably could have won more often if she didn’t have a habit of telling stories about some menial thing Gray did. Once in a while she would bring home a story about sharks being at the beach, or someone nearly drowning and her heroically saving them, but more often than not she’d launch into a story about Gray making some weird ice cream flavor that the hipster tourists went gaga over but any sensible person would question quite heavily. (Levy still didn’t understand how pink peppercorn ice cream had become a thing.)

 

As for the bluenette? She held down the last place spot, hardly ever having anything wild to talk about. Not that that was a bad thing. Normally when things were crazy for her at work, it meant something bad had happened, and she was more than willing to do her chores if it meant nothing getting out of hand. 

 

Excitement thrummed through her veins as she eyed her roommates, who sat in silence after she’d concluded her tale about nearly having her arm ripped off by a dog and Gajeel saving her from certain amputation. (This is paraphrased, of course.) 

 

“So are you gonna jump his bones?” Lucy was the first one to talk, and of course that’s what she’d say. Erza shook her head and their blonde roommate’s bluntness and Juvia let out an excited squeal, clapping her hands together.

 

“A little less bluntly,” Erza interjected, “It does sound as if he may be interested.” At least Levy could count on the redhead to be calm about things. 

 

“I’m sure he was just being nice,” Levy said, looking down at her wrapped wrist and feeling the ghost touch of his hand on hers. 

 

“Give yourself some credit, Lev,” Lucy said, bumping her shoulder into Levy’s as she winked at her. “Kitty Cat Sex God can’t possibly have stood a chance when faced against those big hazel eyes of yours.”

 

Levy rolled her eyes. She was certain that wasn’t the case. She was just his catsitter. 

 

“Does this mean I win?” She asked, ignoring Lucy and Juvia as they leaned behind her to whisper something amongst themselves. Erza looked between their other two roommates, who just nodded at the head of the table.

 

“You win this round, Levy,” the redhead said with a smile. 

 

“Now, in more important matters,” she continued, a devilish smile spreading across her face. “All in favor of Levy getting it on with Kitty Cat Sex God, say aye.” Never in her whole life did she ever feel as betrayed by anyone as she did Erza in that moment. So much for her being the cool and collected on she could count on. Levy moaned as she was met with a resounding round of ayes from her roommates. She suddenly regretted calling this stupid game. 

 

***

 

Levy was in her pajamas and had her fluffy yellow towel wrapped around her hair when she exited her shared bathroom with Lucy. The hot water worked out the tension in her muscles and had even worked a bit of magic on the angry purple bruise on her wrist. The pain of it was just a subtle ache now, but the color was pretty bad and it did hurt to move it without the athletic tape wrapped around it. Which, now that she thought about it, she had no clue how to put back on. Sighing loudly, she plopped onto her bed and folded her legs beneath her as she got to work trying to wrap it back up. (Try being the key word here.) 

 

“Do you need help with that?” Lucy asked, entering their room quietly and making the bluenette jump. 

 

“If you don’t mind,” she replied, holding her arm out to the blonde as she sat down on the bed next to her. Lucy started to wrap the athletic tape around it.

 

“Ya know, I tease you out of love, right?” Lucy’s eyes never left the wrap she was working on.

 

“That’s random, Luce, but yeah, I know.” Levy made sure to let her confusion color her voice. They were the kind of friends who knew they loved each other but never felt like it explicitly needed to be said.

 

“I really do think you should think about pursuing something with this Gajeel. You should have seen your face talking about him earlier.” Ah, there was the reason. 

 

“He’s one of my client’s,” was all Levy could think to say. If she was being honest, it probably wouldn’t cause too much of an issues since she was just a pet sitter and didn’t actually run the company or anything. That didn’t mean it didn’t feel a little weird. Lucy used the pin to hold down the edge of the bandage down. It didn’t feel as sturdy as when Gajeel had done it, but it felt better than it most likely would have if she’d been the one to do it. The blonde pat the bandage gently before letting go of Levy’s hand.

 

“I’m just saying, Lev. Don’t let yourself be lonely because you’re hardheaded,” Lucy smiled at her as she pushed herself off the bed. Reaching for her purse that was on her own bed, she turned back to their door. “I’m going to Natsu’s tonight, so I’ll see you tomorrow?” 

 

“Your not boyfriend Natsu?” The bluenette asked, raising an eyebrow at her best friend.

 

“Yes, my not boyfriend Natsu,” Lucy stuck her tongue out at Levy.

 

“And I’m the hardheaded one?” Levy knew she was over compensating with her joking tone but she couldn’t help it. It wasn’t that what Lucy had said had been out of line or anything, but it did stir something in her chest. Her other roommates had all asked if she’d want them to set her up so she wouldn’t be the 7th wheel anymore, but she kept denying them, telling them that it was easier for her to focus on herself if she didn’t have someone else. While technically true, she’d be lying if she said she didn’t feel a pang of jealousy whenever any of them announced they were off with their respective boyfriends. “Not boyfriend” in Lucy’s case since for some reason she hated putting a label on their relationship.

 

“Think about it, Lev!” The blonde said cheerily as she stepped out of the room and closed the door behind her, leaving Levy alone with her thoughts

 

***

Gajeel was stretched across his couch, Lily asleep on his chest as he stared absentmindedly at the TV, not really taking in what was happening. Though, to be honest he didn’t really need to pay too much attention since he had the movie memorized. Hell, he could probably recreate the entire thing by himself. He started to stroke Lily as his mind started to wander towards the blue haired girl that had sat at his bar earlier that evening. It was stupid to give her his number the way he had, he knew that. Obviously he knew he’d done it as a way to just give it to her, but for all he knew she probably thought he was some pushy weirdo that thought she owed him a text just because he did a decent thing and wrapped her wrist up. His fingers continued to run through his cat’s fur as he growled in frustration and turned from the TV to stare up at the ceiling. Gajeel didn’t necessarily expect to hear from Levy that night, but that didn’t mean that he wasn’t growing more and more anxious while he waited. But as the night continued to go on, and his phone continued to remain dark and textless, he felt just a bit more idiotic for the entire thing. 

 

_ Buzz. _

 

Poor Lily didn’t stand a chance. Gajeel sat up as quickly as if someone had shocked him, and the Bombay went tumbling off his chest and onto his legs with an angry hiss. He’d probably pay for that later but that didn’t matter right now. Snatching the phone off his coffee table, his eyes saw it was from an unfamiliar number, and he couldn’t help but feel a smile stretch across his face as he saw the picture of Levy’s wrapped wrist balanced on her legs. 

 

**I took a shower and took off the wrap without thinking about how I’d have to put it back on D’: is this okay?**

 

It didn’t look too bad to him, and neither did the legs that it rested on. Ignoring the angry glare he could feel from Lily, he tapped out a quick message.

 

_looks about right u shouldnt have to worry bout ur wrist fallin off with that_

 

He reread the message a couple times before typing up another.

 

_looks like u didnt need my help after all :p_

 

Admittedly it had been awhile since Gajeel had not only flirted with anyone, but actually wanted to flirt with anyone, so he couldn’t help but feel stupid as he stared at the messages he’d sent. Did they sound flirtatious? Was he even allowed to flirt with her? All he was certain of was that he couldn’t stop thinking about those hazel eyes and that blue hair. His phone vibrated in his hand a few moments later.

 

**You’re right, I just wanted an excuse to use you shamelessly for some athletic tape and an ice pack ;)**

He didn’t even get the chance to try and think of a response when he got another message.

 

**So what has you up so late this fine Thursday evening?**

 

Turning to look at his TV, then at Lily and then back at his phone, he couldn’t help but feel like a loser for being up for the sole fact he had been sulking and was watching a movie with his cat. Of course, given that cat was how they’d met, maybe she’d find it endearing.

 

_just watchin a movie with lil before bed_

 

Wow, that actually did sound as lame as he’d feared.

 

**That sounds like an amazing night :) What movie?**

 

His heart did a little flip as he read Levy’s reply before he had to remind himself she probably meant that watching a movie with Lily sounded amazing, not watching a movie with him.

 

_almost famous its my favorite_

 

It really was his favorite movie. If it wasn’t for that movie, actually, he probably wouldn’t have pursued music journalism. There was just something so beautiful about capturing the rock-n-roll lifestyle and putting it into words. He was always in awe of the musicians he followed on tour, and honestly, he could wax poetic about it forever.

 

**Ya know, I’ve never actually seen that one**

 

He had known there had to have been something wrong with her.

 

_u just cut me real deep shrimp_

 

**Haha, sorry about that. I’ll have to check it out sometime if it’s your favorite though!**

 

His heart stuttered again as he stared down at the words on the phone screen. Another message came in.

 

**I’m going to go to bed now though. Just wanted to make sure we did the wrap right. Goodnight Gajeel!**

 

Typing up a quick goodnight, he pressed on the number at the top of the thread to save it in his contacts. Sighing loudly, he rubbed a hand over his eyes. He definitely wasn’t going to get Levy off his mind now.

 

 


	5. Chapter Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’M SO SORRY THIS IS LATE Y’ALL! Like I said, I’ve been up to my eyeballs in getting ready to move. I leave next Friday so I’m hoping not to have any setbacks next week given everything will be packed up and I won’t really have anything to keep me from being able to write. But life is crazy so you never know. So yes, sorry this is late! Also, thanks for the feedback on Kingdom! I am def gonna move forward with that one as well, but that won’t be happening until a couple weeks from now because once I do get home I wanna give myself about a week to settle in before I hop into writing two stories lol As always, thank you guys so much for sticking around and reading and for your support! (Also, if you haven’t seen Almost Famous I 100% recommend you do cuz it’s one of my fave movies ever.)

Gajeel’s pen tapped loudly against he cover of his writing notebook as he stared out the window of the tour bus. The band he was currently touring with were all asleep after a night of partying after their gig the night before, leaving him alone with his thoughts and the scenery of Ireland whizzing by. Luckily for him, since he’d just joined the tour that day, he’d managed to miss out on the excessive drinking that had taken place that would have inevitably landed him in some sort of trouble. Especially with a certain blue haired woman whose number in his phone kept him more than aware of the lack of message notifications he received. Not that he’d really expected Levy to keep up conversing with him after her wrist got better, why would she? They’d talked a couple times in the three weeks that had passed since, but it always started with a question about her wrist, then would lead to something completely random– his favorite being her tangent about how she distrusted bird people– before she would quickly cut off conversation saying she was sorry to have bothered him. It never was a bother and he did try to let her know that, but it never really seemed to matter.

He sighed loudly and continued to tap his pen on his journal. With the time difference, she’d be arriving to his apartment for Lily’s first visit. _That damn cat is such a lucky little bastard_ , he thought to himself. Gajeel really hoped she hadn’t found it weird that he’d specifically requested her for the visits this time around. The fact he was completely enamored by her aside, she really was the best with Lily and it did help ease his worry knowing that his best friend was in good hands. He was only on this tour for three weeks, which was short compared to some of the tours he’d been on recently, but that didn’t mean he didn’t absolutely hate leaving the little dude behind for so long. Not that Lily must mind at all. He was a cat after all, and while a loyal cat that sometimes made Gajeel question if he was actually part dog, a cat nonetheless.

His eyes flickered from the scenery outside to his phone that he had on the table next to him. The screen remained dark as he stared at it, almost willing it to light up. It stubbornly stayed black and he sighed again, turning his eyes back to the window.

“Ya got yerself a woman?” A thick Irish accent interrupted his thoughts and causing him to jump. The singer of the band asked as he walked passed Gajeel to the mini fridge at the front of the bus to grab a water.

“Excuse me?” Even to his ears his tone had sounded full of bite. The Irishman laughed before taking a swig of water.

“Down laddie,” he said smiling as he walked back towards the bunks that he’d come from. “Only a man waitin’ on a woman stares at his phone like that is all.” As quickly as he’d appeared, he’d vanished back into his bunk. Good thing Gajeel was nothing but professional or he’d tell the singer where to shove his presumptions. No, he wasn’t waiting on a woman. Of course not. Especially not one he’d met twice and talked to a total of five times. Because that would be weird. No. He was not waiting on a woman. He’d almost gotten done convincing himself of that fact when his phone went off and Levy’s name flashed across the screen.

***

It was technically Levy’s day off, and honestly, if it had been anyone else that had requested her services only, she probably would have said no because she really liked having one day a week where she was able to focus completely on herself. That being said, when her manager had texted her a couple of days ago asking if she’d be okay working on her days off to see Lily because Gajeel had specifically requested her and her alone she’d happily taken the job. (In a very calm, and cool way. Definitely not in a way that involved squealing and excited dancing.) Admittedly, they hadn’t really talked all too much since the Hotdog incident, mainly because she felt like a complete and utter creep for texting him even if he had been the one to give her his number. She’d managed to milk her busted wrist for all it was worth, but contacting him about anything else just seemed like it violated some sort of unspoken pet sitter rule. The one where you weren’t allowed to be into your client. That didn’t mean, of course, that she didn’t feel a bit like she was returning home as she unlocked the door to his apartment. Well, maybe not home, because that was weird, but definitely some place safe and welcoming. Lily hopped off his pillow on the couch as soon as he saw it was her and meowed as he headbutted her shin.

“Hey, cutie pie,” she cooed as she stroked his head. “How about we get you some breakfast, huh?” Levy went on autopilot as she headed to the kitchen to get him his food and nearly missed the handwritten note and DVD on the counter. Stopping in her tracks, she backpedaled and locked eyes with Kate Hudson and her blue lensed sunglasses.

_Hey Lev,_

_I really can’t get over the fact you’re a movie girl but haven’t seen this. So at the risk of sounding like a prick of a client, I also request you give this a watch. I swear you’ll love it, or I’ll owe you one._

_-Gajeel_

She stared at the DVD, surprised by the fact he’d even remembered something so little as the fact she hadn’t seen Almost Famous. It wasn’t like they’d actually really talked about it or anything. He must really love that movie if he’d thought to leave it. Chuckling, she snapped a picture of it and attached it to a new message to the cat owner.

**First you make me work on my day off, and now you make me watch a movie too? I might have to charge you extra for the time :P**

It was a bit more flirty than she’d normally make it, but she was in a good mood so why the hell not. Hitting send, she put her phone on the counter and walked away to get Lily his food, vowing not to ignore him for his owner. She barely had any time at all to grab a can of wet food from the cabinet when she heard her phone buzz with his response. Fighting the urge to look at it, she opened the can and put it in a bowl before taking it to Lily’s feeding area at the other end of the kitchen before she picked up the phone.

_trust me when its over ull be thankin me for makin u watch it_

A short bark of laughter escaped her as she shook her head. Someone had high expectations.

And what will you owe me if I’m not impressed?

Placing the phone back on the counter, she escaped to go scoop Lily’s litter box. Honestly, it was the only way she would be able to keep herself from being too eager if he responded quickly again. She wasn’t shocked to see a new message on her screen when she was done.

_whatever u want_

Her heart stuttered as she reread his text. She was sure it was just a cheeky way of him just trying to prove that he was so certain she’d like the movie that he could promise her anything without too much worry about having to follow through. That didn’t stop her from wondering if her heart was going to leap out of her chest.

**You?**

She stared at the word she’d typed out, wishing she really had the balls to send it. Shaking her head, she deleted it quickly before typing up her actual reply.

**You have a lot of faith in Ms. Hudson**

_u seem to have no faith in kate. trust me shrimp. watch it and report back to me._

At this point, Lily had hopped onto the counter and rubbed his head against Levy’s arm. Absentmindedly, she stroked his fur as she tapped out a confirmation that she would, in fact, watch it tonight and give him her full report.

“You’re going to have to get your owner to stop, Lil,” she whispered as she put her phone in her back pocket and turned her full attention to the Bombay. “He really is something else.”

***

Levy was tucked into the corner of the couch in her shared living room with her big fleece blanket wrapped around her shoulders. After a full day of taking care of Lily, working on her current script and doing all those other menial tasks that come with being an adult with one day off a week, she had finally been ready to watch Almost Famous. At least, she thought she had been. That was until Kate Hudson’s Penny Lane brokenly asked Patrick Fugit’s William Miller why Billy Crudup’s Russell Hammond didn’t love her as she was overdosing on quaaludes and she found her vision blurry with tears. Honestly, up until that point she hadn’t really felt anything for Penny, but that moment was when every preconceived notion of the character changed. Her vision stayed that way through the end of the movie as Led Zeppelin lead the film to blackness before the credits.

“Dammit,” she sniffled as she wiped at her eyes with the backs of her hands. Even if she didn’t love movies and seeing the care that was put into the scripts, she would have to admit she still loved that movie. She pulled her phone from the folds of her blanket and pressed on his text thread.

**That was terrible, I can’t believe that’s your favorite movie.**

The credits were still running as she laid her head down on the arm of the couch. She let the music wash over her as the names of the cast and crew crawled across the screen. The fact that that was his favorite movie really did speak a lot about his character. The film was so heartfelt and looked at the rock lifestyle in a genuine way that saw more than just the sex and drugs. She wondered if that’s what it was really like. Maybe she’d ask him sometime. As she kept her eyes trained on the credits, they started to blur together.

***

She awoke with a start as her phone vibrated on her leg. The TV showed the DVD menu and it was pitch black in the room. Staring at her screen, she saw that it was 2:03am, and knew she’d hate herself when her alarm went off at 6:30am for her to get up for work. More importantly, she clicked on the message that had awaken her.

_liar_

It took a moment for her to realize why Gajeel was accusing her of lying before she remembered what she’d originally said.

**Fine, you got me. It was amazing. I was just hoping I could still get whatever I wanted :P**

Pressing her fists into her eyes to wipe the sleep away, she got up and walked to her DVD player, ejecting the disk before turning both it and the TV off.

_ur a tricky one lol dont think u get to steal my movie short stack_

Levy pulled her blanket tighter around her as she shuffled into her room before falling down onto her bed and tapping out a reply.

**And if that wasn’t what I wanted?**

Awake Levy would hate Sleepy Levy in the morning, but right now she didn’t even care.

_then id say i would have to see what i can do bout what it is u do want_

She felt her cheeks grow hot as she stared at the screen, her eyelids drooping against the sleep that was threatening to end their conversation for them.

**You**

Levy’s finger hovered over the “Reply” button before she erased it again. Now would be a good time to feign sleep, she thought to herself. Almost as if reading her mind, another text came in.

_its late get some sleep_

Her eyes were fluttering closed as she took in the words on the screen, watching the speech bubble as Gajeel continued to type.

_goodnight lev_

“G’night, Gajeel,” she whispered to her phone as she drifted back to sleep.


	6. Chapter Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW Y’ALL LET ME START OFF BY SAYING HOW SORRY I AM THAT I ROYALLY SCREWED THE POOCH ON GETTING THIS UPDATE UP! I hadn’t really factored in how much things as far as my schedule would change with my move, not to mention the whole getting settled in thing has been a bit of a bitch. While I thought I’d get home and have a ton of time, my family had different ideas and I’ve been getting in a load of prime family time. (Since I’ve been living across the country from them for three years up to this point lol.) I’m back though and I want to apologize profusely for keeping you guys waiting. I honestly should stop doing deadlines because I know I’m the worst at keeping up with them D: I am gonna try to stick with Wednesday updates on this one, HOWEVER I may start just updating at least once a week, whenever I can since my fam bam likes to keep my on my toes. Again, I’m super sorry for the wait and I hope y’all can forgive me!

It had been a little over a week since they’d really started texting each other. Eight days to be exact, not that Levy was counting or anything because that would be absolutely ridiculous. Okay, call her ridiculous, she was counting, but she couldn’t help herself. They’d fallen into such easy conversation it didn’t feel like they’d only ever met twice in person. As they’d been texted they’d started to send each other random photos showing  what they were doing at the time, though Gajeel’s photos were always so much more impressive than hers. Each day she’d receive photos of beautiful sights in Europe, photos from side stage of the band he was touring with, and the occasional selfie of him with either of those. She was aware that her favorites should have been some of the gorgeous places he was sharing with her, but damn it all if she didn’t say she was drawn to the ones that had him in it. Even in photos it felt like he was staring straight into her soul, completely aware of the inner turmoil he was causing her. She, on the other hand, filled his texts with pictures of the pets she was with that day and Lily, which she was certain he didn’t find anywhere near as entertaining as she found his. Gajeel never complained though. In fact, he very humbly entertained her and all the random thoughts she had, and photos she sent. It made him that much more endearing and she wasn’t quite sure how much longer she was going to be able to ignore the growing burn of yearning in the pit of her stomach whenever she saw his name flash across her phone screen. At the current moment in time, she was actually fighting back the feeling as she stared at the current message from the cat owner, which contained a picture of the venue the band was playing in tonight in London and a short message:

**ud love it here this city is amazin**

“Texting Gajeel again, I see,” Lucy’s voice broke her concentration, causing Levy to drop her phone. With the speed she hadn’t even known her friend possessed, the blonde snatched the phone up almost before it had time to fall onto Levy’s bed. The bluenette silently cursed her friend as she made a futile attempt to grab it back from her. On a normal day she’d have left before Lucy was even awake and her roommate wouldn’t have even had the chance to notice that yes, she was indeed texting Gajeel. Be that as it may, they both happened to have the day off today, so of course she noticed. Lucy had started noticing she’d been particularly attached to her phone around the third day they’d been talking, and managed to sneak a peak at who had captured her interests on the sixth day. She’d been an absolute thorn in her side since, trying her damnedest to sneak a glance at what it was they were talking about, as if it were anything scandalous.

“Now, let’s see what it is this mysterious man has been sending you to capture your heart,” the blonde said slyly, throwing a wink in Levy’s direction.

“C’mon, Luce, give it back!” Levy snatched at the phone again, falling short as Lucy hopped out of reach. Her eyes scanned the opened message and accompanying photo before looking up at her with a smug look.

“So you both seem to be getting on well,” she said with a smile. “Levy, you little minx, you haven’t told me anything!” The bluenette felt the heat rise to her cheeks as she tried to avoid eye contact.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she replied quietly. The blonde shook her head as she hummed doubtfully and scrolled through the messages. A minute or so passed as her eyes danced across the screen.

“From the looks of it you have been talking for a week now, and from the looks of it you have been flirting,” Lucy said in a singsong voice. She didn’t want to admit that it felt like they were flirting, because Levy did believe in jinxes, but it felt an awful lot like they had been. Which, she was totally okay with. However, with the way Lucy was eyeing her, she really didn’t want to go into detail knowing that her friend would only drive her crazy with questions about it.

“It’s nothing, really, Luce,” she said in an exasperated tone, reaching for her phone again and finally getting it. “He’s just really cool to talk to. He’d be a great friend to have, and you know I don’t have many out here besides you guys.” It was mostly true anyway. Saying it was nothing, however, had caused a bothersome pang to ripple through her chest before she shook it off.

“A great friend to have,” Lucy repeated, staring at Levy with a incredulous look. The bluenette nodded in response, aware that she wasn’t fooling either of them. Her best friend sighed loudly with a look of resignation in her eyes. “Look, Lev, I love you. A lot. And Erza loves you, and Juvia loves you. We will always be here for you for anything, and you know we only want the best for you.” She paused, staring at Levy as if she was waiting for permission to continue. Levy, to her credit, wasn’t quite sure where this was going. “We haven’t really brought it up, because we figured that you’d say something on your own, but I think it’s time I say something anyway. Lev, you’re lonely. And I know you hide it for everyone’s sake so we don’t feel bad for living our lives, but you go to work and only see animals all day. You come home and see us. Wash, rinse, repeat. You hardly ever get to see other people, and normally when you do it’s on your day off when you get into a studio to pitch your script.”

Levy bit the inside of her cheek, feeling the sting as it drew blood. It distracted her from the pain she’d started to feel well up in her chest as Lucy said everything she had left unsaid from anyone.

“You work your ass off, and I just worry you’re going to work so hard and push everything away while doing so, that you’re going to let your life pass you by.” Lucy reached out to grab her hand and squeezed it before smiling at her. “I won’t harp on it, because I know you hate that, but I just want to say that this guy seems like a good one. And he seems to like you. So, don’t let him get away because ‘it would be weird since he’s a client,’ or ‘you’re too busy,’ or literally any other excuse I know you’ve been feeding yourself to push down how you feel.”

With that close to her unexpected talk, Lucy let go of Levy’s hand, and headed out of their room, leaving her alone. The blonde had always been very perceptive of how Levy felt, almost knowing more about her feelings than she normally did, which did drive her crazy especially whenever Lucy decided to put in her two cents on the matter. But as the pain in her chest started to ebb away, leaving a numbness in its wake, she realized just how right her friend was. As much as she hated to admit it, she was lonely. When she’d moved into the city she’d started working almost immediately, and she filled up as much of her time as possible with work. Erza, Juvia and Lucy were all so happy with what they were doing, and with the people they’d met and it wasn’t that she was jealous since it was entirely of her design, not at all. Just that she envied that they had more than just the people in their apartment to turn to from time to time. She stared down at her phone, whose screen had fallen to sleep since Lucy had handed it back to her.

_Don’t let him get away._

The thought echoed through her mind as she pressed the home screen to awaken the screen and unlocked it to open her messages again.

**ud love it here this city is amazin**

The small voice in the back of her mind reminded her that he was a client.

_Don’t let him get away._

Her phone vibrated in her hand as she received another message from him, this time a photo of him and the band standing in front of the venue. Levy’s heart jumped as she saw the smile stretched across Gajeel’s face. She definitely wouldn’t let him get away.

***

Levy filled Gajeel’s thoughts for the entirety of the band’s set tonight, and even more so now that they had also given him a few more shots than he’d intended to take. At least, that’s the reason he told himself. If he could bring himself to be honest, he hadn’t been able to get her out of his head for some time, especially in the past week that they’d been talking. He couldn’t remember the last time he connected so well with someone and was able to talk with them all day every day, yet here he was in constant communication with a near stranger and he couldn’t stop thinking about her because of it.

Gajeel had learned so much about the blue haired woman in the short amount of time they’d really been talking that he felt like he’d known her for a lifetime. He could tell you that her favorite color was yellow, that her favorite book was called the Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud, and that she was currently writing a script about two lovers cursed to keep finding each other in each life just for the guy to die for the girl every time. He could tell you that she hated mornings-- a fact he’d picked up on just by the change in her use of exclamation points in the mornings-- and he could tell you that prior to starting her job as a pet sitter, she’d never considered herself a fan of cats. So yeah, it felt like he’d known her for a lifetime instead of only meeting her twice and really talking to her for a little over a week.

“The woman?” The singer’s voice asked from behind him as Gajeel sat at the bar with another shot of whiskey in front of him and his phone in his hand. He nodded in response as he unlocked his phone to see the message he’d just received from her. He’d given up on denying that she wasn’t “his lass” after the first couple of days he’d been on tour. While he knew she wasn’t his by any means, it was easier than trying to explain why he couldn’t tear himself away from his phone because of his catsitter. The singer chuckled as he clapped a hand on Gajeel’s back, peaking over his shoulder at the photo she’d sent him before leaving him be.

The alcohol must have really been hitting him, because as he stared at the picture, his heart began to race. At least, that’s what he told himself. The bluenette was smiling into the camera in the photo as Lily sat on her shoulder as if he was a parrot instead of a cat. It looked like Lily had been rubbing his head against her’s and her eyes were bright with laughter. His breath caught in his throat as he looked at the photo. She was so beautiful and he wanted nothing more than to let her know that. He took in the way her eyes crinkled at the edges with happiness, and the way her blue locks perfectly framed her face. While they’d been exchanging photos, Gajeel had sent selfies but she never had until now. His memory certainly hadn’t done her any justice. Even through his small phone screen, her smile blinded him. Levy liked to say that his job was so cool and she’d much rather be in his shoes, but in that moment he wanted nothing more than to be there, with them. Closing out his messages, he pulled up his camera and took a quick selfie with his next shot. Opening messages again, he sent it and threw back the whiskey, reveling in the burn that slid down his throat to distract him from the way his stomach was twisting with desire. His phone went off immediately with her reply.

_Man, I wish I was there._

His fingers typed his response before his mind caught up.

**me too**


	7. Chapter Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's a day late. My dumbass forgot my laptop last night so I wasn't able to post >_< Here's chapter seven! As always, thank you guys for reading! I appreciate each and every one of you guys <3

**me too**

 

Who knew two small words could set her skin ablaze like they did, yet here Levy was, cheeks on fire just thinking back to the words she’d been sent the night before. Something about those two small words not only pushed her resolve over the edge, but seemed to turn the tide of their entire conversation. After that, though they never really changed their subject matter-- though he did call her Beautiful in his goodnight text-- every text almost buzzed with an electric current. She could only imagine what it would be like talking to him in person. Sometime between that goodnight text and before she got in her car this morning to visit Lily, Levy had decided that she would be seeing him in person again. There were only five days until Gajeel got home, which gave her plenty of time to figure out how. 

 

She hopped out of her car at his apartment, mind still stuck on Lily’s owner instead of Lily himself. The little dude would probably understand, at least, she hoped. Levy was still on cloud nine when she walked into the apartment, and had she not been as preoccupied, she may have noticed that Lily didn’t greet her at the door. Humming to herself as she locked the door, the sitter went straight to the kitchen to start preparing the cat’s breakfast. Had she not been so preoccupied, she may have noticed that the food from the night before had been left untouched. After scrubbing away the old food and replacing it with new food, she went to clean out his litter box, which was located in Gajeel’s room. And that’s when she noticed the spots of vomit all over the floor, and the black cat tucked into the side of a pillow on the bed. Lily was staring off into space, and didn’t make any move to come see her, and that’s when Levy came crashing down from her cloud.

 

“Lily?” She called, carefully avoiding a puddle of vomit as she walked over to the Bombay. As she got closer, she heard the sound of labored breathing, but he never turned to look at her. Slowly, as to not startle him, she reached her hand forward to stroke his head lightly. Lily’s body shook with every breath and almost as soon as she touched him, he started to wretch. That’s when Levy launched into pet sitter crisis mode. Grabbing her phone out of her back pocket, she called the contact at the top of her message inbox. 

 

“Hey, you’ve reach Gajeel, please leave a message after the tone and I’ll try to get back to ya.”

 

An angry growl tore from her throat as she was sent straight to voicemail. It was just her luck for this to happen the one time Gajeel decided not to have his phone on. She tried to calm Lily down enough to stop dry heaving as she called her manager next.

 

“Levy?” Her boss, Makarov, answered.

 

“Hey Makarov,” Levy’s voice was shaking, betraying her as she tried to keep composed. “Lily is really sick, and I can’t get a hold of Gajeel. He’s acting despondent and it looks like he’s been throwing up all night. He’s dry heaving right now and I’m trying to calm him down but I can’t seem to, and I really need to know if I need to get him to a vet.” Her words sped up as she talked, stringing them all together at the end. 

 

“Take a couple of breaths for me, Lev,” her manager said. He waited as she took in steadying breaths. “Good, you won’t be able to help Lily out if you’re freaking out. Yes, you will need to get him to a vet. Does Gajeel have any vet information in his profile, or do you need me to send you the information for the closest emergency vet?” Levy had never actually checked if Gajeel had any vet information in his profile. It wasn’t like she expected Lily to get so sick so suddenly. 

 

“Can you text me the address just in case? I’m not sure if he does and I can’t check while on the phone,” she responded, trying to keep her mind on staying calm. 

 

“Of course. I’ll continue to try and call Gajeel. Please just get Lily to the vet, and keep me posted on anything. I’ll get the rest of your visits for the day covered so you don’t need to worry about anything else, okay?” Levy nodded at the phone, before she realized that Makarov obviously couldn’t see her.

 

“Yeah. Yeah, okay. Thanks.” Her voice sounded small, and she hated that. Now wasn’t the time for her to be freaking out. She needed to make sure Lily was okay. It took a second for her to register that Makarov had hung up the phone before she stuffed it back into her pocket and scooped the black cat up into her arms. He’d at least stopped dry heaving. She swiped the key to the apartment off of the counter as she ran out, locking up and shoving it into her pocket before heading to the elevator. 

 

“It’s going to be okay, Lil.” She said under her breath as she hugged him closer to her chest. His breathing was still coming out in scratchy rasps. After getting down the elevator and letting the desk guy know about the situation in case he heard anything from Gajeel, she nearly flew to her car. Setting Lily gently on the passenger seat, she grabbed her phone and opened the cat’s profile to find his vet information. When she saw an address and vet name, she was sure she could kiss Gajeel for providing them with the information. A lot of clients didn’t, as they never felt it necessary, and up until this point, she’d never found it so. Driving both as quickly as she could to get them there, and as slowly as she could to not jostle Lily too much, it felt like a lifetime before she finally got to the address in the profile. Levy scooped Lily back up and ran into the vet office, not even caring that she hadn’t locked her car door. 

 

“Is Dr. Strauss in?” She said, a bit louder than intended, as soon as she got through the door. The receptionist looked up from her computer with wide eyes as she took in Levy’s wild eyed appearance and the black cat in her arms that had started dry heaving again. 

 

“She is,” the long, silver haired receptionist replied, eyeing Levy with a look of confusion. “Are you a new client?” 

 

“No, well,” Levy paused to draw in a steadying breath again. “Lily isn’t a new patient, I’m his pet sitter though. Gajeel is out of the country right now and I’m supposed to be taking care of him.” At that the receptionist jumped up and walked around the desk to take the black cat into her arms.

 

“You poor thing,” she cooed. Levy wasn’t sure if that was supposed to be for her or Lily. Maybe both. “I’ll get him back to Dr. Strauss right away. What are his symptoms?” 

 

“He seemed fine last night, but this morning he wasn’t acting like his usual self, and it didn’t look like he ate anything last night. He also vomited quite a bit, and seems to be having trouble breathing and also has been dry heaving.” Levy listed off, trying to make sure she didn’t miss anything. The receptionist nodded before turning on her heel and leaving Levy alone in the lobby of the vet clinic. Without Lily to hold onto, she felt the panic starting to course through her veins. Her legs grew weak and she just barely made it to a seat before collapsing into it. Levy’s eyes fixed on the placard on the receptionist’s desk that read “Mirajane.” She read it over and over, trying to calm herself down with the repetition. A hand on her shoulder startled her out of her stupor.

 

“She’s taking a look at him now,” the receptionist-- Mirajane apparently-- said with a reassuring smile. “Would you be able to fill out some paperwork? You wouldn’t need to know all the information, just the basics like owner name, address, pet name and as much as you know about the symptoms.” Her voice stuck in her throat, so she just nodded. She could do that. It would give her something to focus on. Makarov hadn’t reached out to her about getting a hold of Gajeel, which wasn’t a good sign, and she knew she should start trying to call him again as well. But as selfish as it was, she was terrified to talk to him. _C’mon, Lil_ , she thought to herself as Mirajane handed her a clipboard with paperwork on it. _You gotta be okay_.

***

 

“It’s an inflamed gallbladder caused by gallbladder stones,” Dr. Strauss had told her just a few hours before. “We’ll need to do surgery, but we can’t until we get approval from Gajeel.” Who knew just one sentence would be the start of the worst three hours of Levy’s life. She was still at the vet and had called Gajeel and texted him an obscene amount of times with no luck at all. Makarov also hadn’t had any luck, nor had the vet clinic, so all they could do was wait. Her boss had told her she could leave, but it felt wrong leaving Lily all by himself without anyone, even if he wasn’t even with her. She just couldn’t bring herself to leave the Bombay alone. Many people had come and gone in the amount of time she’d been at the office. Mirajane had tried to offer up conversation with her, but given up shortly after when she realized Levy was a million miles away in her own thoughts. 

 

All she could think about was how Lily had gotten so sick on her watch. She knew it was irrational to think that way, since there was no way anyone could have prevented what happened. It would have happened no matter who was taking care of him at the time. But that didn’t stop her from mentally beating herself up. As much as she wished Gajeel would answer his phone with each call she made to him, a small part of her also wished he wouldn’t just so she wouldn’t have to be the one to tell him. The pit of worry in her stomach continued to grow heavier and heavier. _God, why did it have to happen to Lily_.

 

Levy had her head in her hands as she tried to count her breaths while she tried to figure out what to say to Gajeel when they finally got a hold of him. That’s when her phone started to ring. His name flashed across the screen and without thinking, she answered.

 

“G-Gajeel?” She couldn’t help the lump in her throat that formed when she answered. 

 

“Levy? Is everything okay?” His voice was thick with worry. “What’s wrong? I couldn’t find my phone after last night and when I found it again I had a shit ton of missed calls from ya and the company.”

 

“Gajeel,” Levy paused, breathing in slowly through her nose and out with her mouth. “It’s Lily. He’s really sick. The vet said it’s an inflamed gallbladder and that he needs surgery but they can’t do it without your say so.” There was a pause that, while most likely only a moment, felt like a lifetime to Levy.

 

“Hand them the phone,” he said, his voice gruff with an emotion she didn’t quite recognize. Without a word, she walked up to Mirajane and handed her the phone. 

 

“Yes?” The receptionist said. She looked up at Levy as she listened to Gajeel before nodding. “Got it, we’ll get him in right away. He’s going to be fine, Mr. Redfox.” Another pause as she nodded again and passed the phone back to Levy as she got up and went back to the doctor. 

 

“Levy?” Gajeel’s voice pulled her back from the door she was watching swing closed.

 

“Mmhm,” she hummed, her heart pounding in her ears and nearly drowning out his voice.

 

“Would you mind meeting me at my apartment tonight?” She wasn’t sure what she’d expected him to say, but that wasn’t it. Her cheeks felt wet as tears rolled down them. “I’m getting the next flight home.”

 

*********************


	8. Chapter Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The writer’s block on this was REAL you guys. Sorry there ended up being a week delay, like I said I didn’t want to give you guys a pile of poop just for the sake of getting it out on time. Y’ALL DESERVE GOOD THINGS AND I WON’T GIVE YOU POOP JUST BECAUSE. Sooooo, hopefully you don’t think this is poop lol This chapter was a bitch because I wasn’t happy with what originally happened, then I wasn’t happy with what I’d come up with instead, then I got writer’s block, then I still didn’t like the direction it was going. And then when I woke up this morning i was like AHA THAT’S WHAT I WANT TO HAPPEN so, there ya go lol As always, thank you so so much for reading! I love and appreciate each and every one of you!

There was only supposed to be five days until he came home. Why did this have to happen now? Gajeel tapped his fingers impatiently on the armrest of his plane seat as he bore holes into the window with his glare. When he’d finally gotten his phone charged enough to turn it on, he was stunned to see so many missed calls and texts, the majority in which had been from Levy. He’d never felt anything like the pit that had formed in his stomach when he saw her name so many times. It wasn’t that he didn’t think she’d text him while his phone was dead, but he knew she’d only call if something had gone wrong. Without even checking any of the messages, he had called her back only to be met with the news that Lily was sick and that they were both at the vet. It hasn’t taken him long to find a last minute flight back home, but even the few hours it had taken to get into the flight were enough to drive him crazy.

 

Things had been going so well, and he was going to be home in three days, and he was going to ask Levy out. Why did this have to happen now? Lily was going to be fine, that he was sure of. Lisanna was an excellent vet and he knew it would be fine, but Levy’s terrified voice continued to echo through his mind. It wasn’t her fault, and yet he could tell just by how she’d sounded that she thought it was. Gajeel’s fist closed tightly around the armrest as he closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. He needed to get home.

 

***

 

Levy wasn’t even sure how long she’d been at the vet anymore. While she knew it had to only have been hours, it felt like days. The kindly receptionist had informed her it was okay if she wanted to step out and maybe get something to eat, but Levy just couldn’t bring herself to leave. She knew Lily couldn’t possibly know if she was there or not, but it didn’t feel right leaving him alone. At least that’s what she told herself. Really she just couldn’t bring herself to go back to Gajeel’s apartment just yet. Mirajane shot her a worried look when she passed on the opportunity to go, but didn’t say a word as she returned to her desk. With a sigh, Levy dropped her head into her hands, and closed her eyes to the outside world. She shouldn’t have been so preoccupied with him and paid more attention to Lily. That was her job for fucks sake, she should have caught that something was up, and now he was in surgery and Gajeel was on the first flight home probably worried out of his mind and hating her for letting something happen to him. What must he have thought of her when she’d told him? That she was completely irresponsible and shouldn’t have this job most likely.

What an idiot she was, letting herself become so preoccupied with an owner that she wasn’t able to properly care for their pet. She had known this was a bad idea, and yet, she just couldn’t stop herself. Her phone started to vibrate on her lap, alerting her to a phone call. It wasn’t Gajeel, that she knew, and yet a shock of panic still rocked through her body before she looked at the screen and saw Lucy’s name. Quickly standing from her seat and heading towards the exit to take the call outside, she answered it.

“Levy!” Lucy’s voice shouted into the phone before she could say anything first. “Are you okay? How’s the cat?” Levy had almost forgotten that she’d texted Lucy about everything when she hadn’t been able to get a hold of Gajeel and first arrived at the vet.

“H-he’s going to be fine,” she stuttered, unaware up until that moment that she’d started crying. “They said the surgery went fine, but they want to keep him overnight just to be sure.” A small, wet hiccup escaped her lips. Lucy let out a relieved sigh on the other end.

“That’s good,” her friend replied. “But how are  _you_?” The emphasis on the word only let Levy know that Lucy was more than aware of the inner turmoil she was suffering about the whole situation.

“I’m,” Levy started before she paused. How was she? Not good, that was for certain. Far from it actually. If she was being honest, she was exhausted and her spirit felt so low. Her worst nightmare had been a situation in which a pet ended up at a vet on her watch, and it happened to happen with Gajeel, who she had allowed her feelings to grow out of control for. It left her with a hollow feeling in her chest, and apparently, it was making her cry.

“I’m fine,” she finally said. Lucy would pick up on the lie, but at this point Levy didn’t care. She didn’t want anyone to tell her it wasn’t her fault, or give her a pep talk. This was something she would deal with on her own. The beat of silence between the two of them stretched as Lucy considered if she would pursue the lie or not.

“That’s good,” Lucy replied, letting the lie slide. For now anyway, Levy was sure she’d say something later. “Are you going to be home soon?”

“No,” Levy sighed as she rubbed her eyes with the heel of her hand, spreading the tears around her eyes. She was thankful she wasn’t wearing any makeup. “Gajeel asked me to meet him at his apartment tonight since he’s headed home right now because of this.” All Lucy responded with was an affirmative hum.

“Just don’t beat yourself up about this, Lev,” her friend said suddenly. “This doesn’t sound like the kind of thing that can be avoided, so don’t shoulder too much of the blame, okay?” This caused even more tears to slip down her face. A part of her knew this already, and yet she still couldn’t shake the feeling of responsibility.

“Yeah, alright,” she mumbled, sniffling back some of the tears.

“I gotta go though, I only stepped out long enough to give you a call. I’m sure Natsu has destroyed the store already in that amount of time. Call me for anything though, okay? You have the store’s number too.” Lucy’s voice was thick with worry for her friend. Great, now she’d caused someone else emotional pain too.

“Will do, Luce,” was all Levy said before she hung up the line. The bluenette shoved her phone into her pocket and took a few breaths of fresh air, allowing it to clear her mind as she mopped up her tears with her hands. It was time to head back to the apartment. Gajeel wouldn’t be home for a couple more hours, at least according to the itinerary he’d sent her before hopping on his plane, but there was still a matter of the mess that had been left at the apartment when she’d left. With one last steadying breath, she headed back to the apartment and what was most likely the end of whatever it is that her and Gajeel had been doing.

***

After cleaning up all the spots of vomit, taking out the trash and cleaning and changing the bedding, Levy was ready to sleep for days. She hadn’t realized how late it had gotten, and especially hadn’t realized just how tired she was feeling until she let herself fall onto Gajeel’s couch. The furniture wrapped her into a soft, warm hug of cushioning. The worry she’d felt the entire day was finally ebbing away as she accepted the fact that most likely Gajeel would let her office know he never wanted her watching Lily again and that would be the end of that. They’d had a good run, but all good things come to an end, right? It just wasn’t meant to be, she told herself as she yawned. Stretching out slightly, Levy propped her arm on the arm rest of the couch, using it as a makeshift pillow as she rested her head on it.  _Gajeel should be home any minute now_. The thought ran through her mind over and over as she felt her eyes slowly start to drift shut.  _Gajeel should be home any minute now_ …

***

 _That damn flight had taken far longer than necessary_ , Gajeel thought angrily to himself as he hauled his luggage into the elevator of his building. He wasn’t actually sure if it had taken any longer than he’d been told, but it sure as hell felt like it. By the end of the flight, he’d been a bundle of nerves worrying about Levy and Lily. When he’d hopped off the plane, he’d received the text from her saying that Lily was going to be okay and that they were keeping him overnight but that he should be able to come home in the morning, but it hadn’t said anything about how the little bluenette was feeling, which only caused him to worry more. If there was anything he’d learned about her in the short time they’d been talking, it was that she took her job seriously, and shouldered a lot more of the blame of things than she needed to. Lily would have gotten sick no matter what, that was the nature of what happened. Yet he couldn’t shake the feeling that Levy would think it was all her fault and he wanted nothing more than to assure her that she was wrong. The elevator finally dinged as it reached his floor, and he stepped out before the doors could fully open. Unlocking the door, he threw it open, Levy’s name stopping in his throat when he saw her on his couch.

Levy had her head resting on her arm on the arm rest, with her legs tucked underneath her, as she breathed slowly and evenly in what seemed like a very deep sleep. Her cornflower locks fell partially across her face and down her shoulder, and her mouth was open slightly as she breathed. Gajeel’s heart skipped a beat as she took her in, afraid to wake her, but also afraid of what the sight of her in such a peaceful state in his living room as doing to his heart. While he really wanted to speak with her, he could only imagine how hard of a day she’d had, so without a word he closed his door and left his luggage by it. Walking overly quietly, he gently lifted her from her sleeping position on the couch, careful not to jostle her too much. As he lifted her from where she was, he paused for a moment as she squirmed for a moment before she nestled her face into his chest and sighed deeply. The room was suddenly very hot and he swallowed back the feeling that had suddenly started to burn within him. With as much care as possible, he walked towards his room, and set her gently in his bed, covering her with his comforter. She was still sleeping heavily as she settled herself further into the covers and clutched the edge of the pillow before sighing what sounded suspiciously like his name. (Not that he was going to dwell on that or anything. It did not make his heart fall into the pit of his stomach for a moment.) He carefully brushed a lock of hair from her face before he left the room and closed the door behind him.

He would make sure she didn’t blame herself for anything in the morning. For now, he would let her sleep.

***

Light was pouring across Levy’s face, not only making her inexplicably hot, but also waking her from what may have been the best sleep of her entire life. Which, was weird, given her side of the room didn’t have the window. Suddenly the entirety of the day beforehand flashed across her mind’s eye and ending with the last thing she remembered: Falling asleep on Gajeel’s couch. It was only supposed to be a moment to let her tired eyes rest, but she must have slept for much longer. Sitting up quickly, her eyes darted around the room, only disorienting her further as she didn’t quite recognize her surroundings. This wasn’t his living room either.

“What the hell?” She muttered under her breath before it hit her that she was in Gajeel’s room, and tucked into his bed. Throwing her legs over the side of the bed, she quietly padded to the door and opened it. Low snores greeted her as she slunk into the living room to find Lily’s owner sprawled across his couch, one leg hanging off the side and one arm thrown over his eyes. If the guilt of the day before hadn’t awakened in full force, she’d have found the moment to be endearing. She may have even noticed the slice of stomach that peeked out from the hem of his shirt that had been raised as he slept. Her veins were coursing with guilt though, and she just couldn’t bring herself to wake him to speak with him about what had happened. It was cowardly, and she knew it, but she just couldn’t do it. As silently as she could, she walked over to the kitchen and grabbed the magnetized notepad that hung on the fridge. Scrawling out an apology and a recap of what the doctor had told her, she hung it back on the fridge. Grabbing her purse and shoes that were by the door, she opened it quietly and stepped out, turning back to take in Gajeel one last time.

“Goodbye, Gajeel,” she whispered under her breath before she closed the door behind her.


	9. Chapter Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOO ONLY ONE DAY LATE! Lol I don’t even have an excuse this time, I just forgot yesterday was Wednesday. My bad. This one is a touch shorter. We’re actually coming up on the end of things! We got one chapter and an epilogue left! Anyway, thank you guys so much for reading and I hope you’ll stick around for when I kick off my next one after MLC. But if not, it really does mean a lot that you guys have put so much time into reading what I have to write. Y’all the true MVPs for sticking around and putting up with my inability to update on time lol Anyway, here’s chapter nine!

“Levy, it has been three weeks,” Erza deadpanned, standing next to the couch with her arms crossed over her national parks polo. Levy stared up from her, a pair of hazel eyes tucked into a blanket cocoon with that movie on for the umpteenth time and a pint of melting ice cream on the side table. Her scarlet haired roommate understood that she was still upset about the incident with the kitty sex god, but it was just getting out of hand now. The roommates had all agreed not to say anything during that first week, opting to let Levy go through her grieving period. By the second week, Levy had claimed the couch as her own domain whenever she wasn’t working, and had watched Almost Famous more times than any one person should watch a movie in that amount of time, and turned their freezer into their own personal ice cream parlor. Even then, the friends had agreed to not push her, the group voting on having Juvia speak with her since she was the most soft spoken of the bunch when it came to matters of the heart. Now it was week three, and the trio had plans to stage an intervention, which had been a great plan until Erza had returned home after one of the hottest days of the year looking forward to the pint of strawberry shortcake ice cream she’d claimed in their ice cream collection, just to find the carton disposed of in the trash. And that, well, that was just the straw that broke the camel’s back.

“Did the cat die?” Erza asked, a bit more forcefully than she’d intended, but there was no going back now. There was a gasp from Levy and Lucy’s room before the door flew open.

“Erza!” Lucy hissed, standing in their doorway. The bluenette who was at the heart of the matter just looked between the two, watching them warily with defeated, tired eyes. Erza ignored Lucy, eyes still trained on Levy and waiting for an answer.

“Did the cat die?” She asked again with what the rest of the apartment had dubbed her mom voice. Levy had never been on the receiving end, and if she hadn’t been so down about everything, she probably would have made a quip about how great of a mom Erza would be. Unfortunately, Levy was feeling down, and instead she just wrapped her blanket around her tighter.

“No,” she huffed into the fabric, turning away from her friend.

“And was kitty sex god mad about it?” The red head continued, still fixing Levy with that stern look. The answer was no. In fact, Gajeel had been great about the situation. After Levy had snuck out the next morning, leaving nothing but a note, he’d texted her to let her know Lily was okay and wondering how she was doing. All she’d said in return was “I’m fine” and she hadn’t responded to anything he’d sent since. Was she aware that she was acting cowardly in avoiding him? Very much so. She gave the cowardly lion a run for his money, but she couldn’t help it.

That entire first week after Lily had gotten sick, she’d been sick to her stomach waiting for the call from Makarov that Gajeel had asked for her to be terminated for what happened. In fact, that first week she’d been mourning the loss of her only income. After that first week, when she kept getting scheduled for work and hadn’t been fired, she’d started to wonder if Gajeel had something else up his sleeve. He’d continued to text her though, trying to start up conversation like they’d had while he was away, and she continued to not answer. If she did, it was with a one word answer, worried that if she continued into conversation, he would want to talk about what happened.

Levy had to face it, what ever it was they’d been doing and she’d been feeling had existed in a weird vacuum that came crashing down after Lily had gotten sick and he’d come home. Which was why, this third week, she was still in mourning.

“Well?” Erza prodded, her voice only lightening a little.

“Erza, c’mon, we agreed to talk to her together,” Lucy said lowly, still standing in their doorway.

“No.” The word was almost whispered but it was loud enough for them to hear it. Levy trained her eyes on the screen as Almost Famous continued to play.

“Then why are you letting yourself run away?” There it was. The question that all of her roommates had wanted to ask her, but wouldn’t. It was a question Levy often wondered, but allowed herself to dance around finding an answer. If she kept herself busy and focused on something else, she could pretend that she didn’t see what everyone could: That she was using this as an excuse to run away. If she was being honest, the city had broken her. Up until she’d found the job as a pet sitter, she’d faced so much rejection that she hadn’t even been sure she could continue staying in the city. Then she got this job, and continued to pedal her scripts around town, continuously facing more rejection. It was a hard area to break into, which she was never going to deny, but each time she was turned down was another chip into her self esteem. And now here was Gajeel, who she’d convinced herself she might have a chance with, when he was given a reason to reject her all the same. The thought was unbearable. So she did what anyone who was scared would do, and she ran, taking that chance away from him. Not that she could tell her friends that.

“I don’t know,” was all she mumbled into the blanket. She felt the tear roll down her cheek before she’d even realized she was crying.

“Oh Lev,” Lucy said, finally leaving the doorway and walking towards her, sitting next to her and wrapping her arms around her. She didn’t say a word, just let Levy cry as she hugged her. With a sigh, Erza sat on the other side of Levy and bumped her shoulder against her’s in what she hoped was a reassuring manner. The three of them sat together as Levy cried, as Almost Famous continued in the background.

***

Gajeel could take a hint. At least, that’s what he told himself as he stared at his laptop screen. He hadn’t really heard from Levy since Lily had been to the vet aside from an “I’m fine” and one word replies whenever he tried to start up conversation. So yes, he could take a hint. However, in the past three weeks he could get the image of her sleeping peacefully in his bed out of his mind. Almost as if he could send where Gajeel’s mind was, Lily hopped up onto the couch and rubbed himself against his owner’s arm. Purring softly, he continued to rub himself against his arm until Gajeel lifted it, allowing him to get into his lap.

“You miss her too, huh,” he said as he scratched the bombay’s ears. Though Lily’s fur was still stubbly around where his incision had been, he’d healed up nicely. Lisanna had said there had been no doubt in her mind that he would heal up well, and he hadn’t proven her wrong. In fact, Lily had been back to his old self within the week. That update had been the last one Levy had responded to. At least she knew he was okay. That had actually been what tipped him off to her radio silence being about something other than Lily. It may have started that way, but he recognized when someone ran away. He actually knew the feeling all too well. Running used to be one of his specialties. It was safer to run. At least, that’s how he’d felt until he’d seen a certain blue haired girl in his living room with his cat.

With one hand continuing to stroke Lily’s ears, he used his other to open his email and type up a quick message. Planting a kiss on top of his cat’s head, he pressed the send button.

“Let’s get our girl back.”

***

It had been a long afternoon. Once Juvia had returned home from work, Levy and her roommates had all curled up on the couch with three large pizzas and a romance movie marathon that topped all romance movie marathons. (“Anything to not see Almost Famous again,” Erza had joked, though Levy was certain it was only partially a joke.) They’d laughed, they’d cried, they’d stuffed their faces with food, but more importantly, they’d talked. While no one brought up Gajeel again, they’d caught up on life. Though they lived together, they hadn’t been able to just hangout together in quite some time.

It was now around midnight and they all had their respective jobs in the morning. Lucy was already tucked into bed, breathing heavily as she curled into a ball. Levy turned off the light and crawled into bed, grabbing her phone and opening up her email. A feeling of deja vu hit her as she found her schedule for the next day and opened it. Her hazel eyes scanned the visits, noting that it was pretty much the same schedule she’d had for the past couple days. All except one. The final one on the list, which caused her heart to to come to a complete halt before picking up in double time. Her final visit for the next day was Lily.

*******************************


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it guys! The one before the epilogue! It’s a bit scary posting this because I really don’t want to disappoint. My apologies in advance if I do. And as alway, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR TAKING THE TIME TO READ THIS AND COME ON THIS JOURNEY WITH ME!

Two hours. That was how many hours of sleep Levy had gotten thanks to her nerves, which in turn, only made her nerves worse. She’d become quite familiar with the topography of the textured ceiling above her in those hours as she’d stared up at it. Every possible excuse to get out of work for the next day ran through her mind, each getting increasingly more unbelievable as the night wore on. (It started as simple as feigning food poisoning and ended with alien abduction.) As her alarm sounded, startling her from her already fitful sleep, she stared up at the ceiling again and listened to the sound of Lucy’s breathing on the other side of the room.

If she was less of a person, she would call out, but she knew she couldn’t. No matter how things could possibly end that day, she couldn’t let the rest of her client’s down like that just because she was too selfish to face Gajeel and Lily again.  _That’s it_ , she thought to herself as she pushed herself up,  _you’re going to do this and everything will work out._

And if it wasn’t? Well, she’d just cross that bridge when she got there.

***

“You know, Hotdog, if you wanted to do something wild like drag me super far away so I can’t go to that visit, that would be greatly appreciated right now,” Levy said to the giant dog. She hadn’t actually been assigned to him since the incident a couple months back, which had given her an overwhelming sense of deja vu. She’d been consumed with thoughts of Gajeel and Lily during that visit too, now that she thought about it. At the time she’d cursed the dog for running off and trying to get her killed, but now she cursed him for being so well behaved as they went for their walk. He was even sat now whenever they reached a street to cross to await the go ahead to cross.

“Of course you’re a perfect angel now,” she mumbled under her breath. “Just couldn’t do me this solid this one time, huh?” Levy pulled her phone from her back pocket to check how they were doing on time. The timer showed 15 minutes left in their visit, which meant 15 minutes until the last visit standing between her and her doom ended. Unless she gave Hotdog a longer walk out of the goodness of her heart.

When she’d awakened this morning and decided she was going to face the visit head on, she’d still been a bit sleep deprived and had that early morning kick of adrenaline. Now, after the day had passed, so had her resolve. It was too late to back out now, but dammit she was going to put it off as long as possible. Almost as if he sensed her distress, Hotdog nudged her leg with his big head. Smiling down at him, she ruffled his ears.

“I’ll be fine, cutie pie,” she cooed at him. The large mutt licked her hand before turning his attention back towards their path. With any luck, it would be an easy visit with Lily and nothing will have changed. It was wishful thinking, of course, Levy wasn’t stupid. The guilt of his sickness always weighed on her in the back of her mind. Even worse was the guilt of ignoring his owner and basically ghosting him as soon as she’d found out Lily was fine. Erza was right, she was running away, and that weighed on her too. She was running, because if you didn’t allow yourself the happiness, the happiness couldn’t be taken away. It had been a great strategy up to this point anyway.

Her phone vibrated, alerting her that Hotdog’s time requirement had been met and causing her heart to race. Almost as if he knew time was up, the dog turned back towards his home and started to pull her in that direction.

“Traitor,” she breathed as she followed behind him. The walk, which had taken all of 30 minutes to do somehow took just 10 minutes to get back, which Levy was certain was some cruel twist of fate. Before she knew it, she found herself parked in the parking lot at Gajeel’s complex with her hands clutching the wheel so tightly that her knuckles were turning white. No matter how much she willed herself to just get out of the car and get it over with, her body stayed petrified in the car. That was, until her ringtone cut through the silence, causing her to jump and let out a sharp scream. Lucy’s name flashed across the screen.

“Hey,” was all she managed when she finally answered the phone. Her heart was still racing as it tried to hammer its way out of her chest.

“You sound stressed,” Lucy replied, cutting straight to the chase. Not that Levy expected any less. “It’s about that time, isn’t it?” She continued without allowing Levy the chance to deny her claim.

“Unfortunately,” she said lowly, chewing on the corner of her thumbnail. If Juvia was there, she’d smack her hand away and remind her that it was a terrible habit to have. However, she wasn’t, so she chewed away. She heard her friend sigh on the other end.

“It’s going to be fine, Lev,” Lucy calmly said. “If he was mad at you, he wouldn’t have asked you to take care of Lily again.” It was nice to hear her friend say it, and did help calm her nerves down slightly.

“But what if-”

“No, no what if’s, Levy.  Those two words together will do nothing but haunt you.” Lucy’s voice was strong with conviction. “Trust me, Lev, everything will be fine. And if it isn’t, well, I have a nice pint of ice cream and a bottle of whiskey waiting for you.” It was strange that that was what caused tears to prick the corners of Levy’s eyes, yet here she was as they threatened to spill over. Lucy was right. It would be fine. And if it wasn’t... she wasn’t going to think about if it wasn’t.

“Thanks, Luce,” Levy replied, voice barely above a whisper.

“Anytime,” was all her friend said before the line went dead. With a steadying breath, Levy undid her seatbelt, got out of her car and headed into the complex. Avoiding eye contact with the front desk attendant, she headed straight for the elevator. The ride was relatively short-- too short, in fact-- before she found herself standing at Gajeel’s front door. She carefully put in the code, taking her time as she got the key out and closed it back up again.

 _Here goes nothing_. With a quick turn in both locks, Levy opened the door. She wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting upon coming in, but the feeling of returning home was not it. Though her heart had been racing and she’d been a nervous wreck all day, the one place she’d been dreading somehow was also providing her solace. She closed the door behind her and took in the silence of the apartment. Lily was nowhere to be found, which was weird for him, but she supposed she wouldn’t want to say hi to her either if she was Lily. The last time he’d seen her had ended in a surgery after all. Walking towards the kitchen to get Lily’s food prepared, she noticed a vase of flowers on the counter. They were lilac and yellow lilies, and they were absolutely stunning. She drew closer to the arrangement, and was enveloped by their delicate floral scent. There didn’t seem to be a card on them, and she wondered if someone had sent them to Gajeel after Lily’s surgery. Though she wasn’t sure if flowers would live that long. Maybe they were really late? Or maybe Gajeel was a flower person?

Leaning in, she smelled one of the lilies, amazed at how they smelled and how beautiful they were. She hadn’t ever seen lilies with that coloring before. Suddenly, she felt something nudge against her arm. A panicked gasp escaped her lips as she pulled back to see Lily rubbing his head against her arm. Her eyes started to burn with tears as he let out a soft meow and continued to drag the rest of his body across her arm.

“I missed you too, Lil,” she hiccuped as she started to pet the black cat. The tears spilled over as she began to pet him, causing the cat to purr loudly. She had missed him so much. The fingers of her right hand stroked his glossy coat as she wiped away her tears with her left. She suddenly felt lighter as she realized everything really was fine. Even his stomach had regrown its hair nicely and it was almost as if you couldn’t even tell what had happened. She started to scratch behind his ears, making even louder purrs erupt from his chest. It was then that she saw the piece of paper tied to his collar with a ribbon. Untying it carefully, she unfolded the note and though she’d only seen it once, she instantly recognized the handwriting. There wasn’t much written in the note, and yet she found herself rereading it.

**Dear Levy,**

**I really appreciate you and all that you do for me. I’m sorry I gave you such a scare, but it wasn’t your fault. I’ve really missed you, and was hoping you’d stick around for awhile longer. Dad has really missed you too, so I was wondering if you’d consider going on a date with him?**

**Love,**

**Lily**

Next to Lily’s name was a little paw print. She felt the smile start to stretch across her lips before she even realized she had started to smile. Scooping Lily into her arms, she hugged him to her chest where her heart felt like it was going to explode, and planted a kiss on top of his head.

“So is that a yes?” Levy’s head snapped up to see Gajeel standing in the entrance of his hallway, leaning against the wall and watching her with soft eyes. A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

“I missed you, too,” was all she said, voice soft as she struggled to find it. Her heart continued to swell with joy as she continued to hug the cat to her chest and take in Gajeel who was now walking slowly towards her. He wasn’t mad at her, and neither was Lily, which was already more than she could ask for. Gajeel stopped just inches away from her. Lifting his hand, he gently pushed hair back from her face. She leaned into the touch as he then wiped a stray tear from her cheek.

“So is that a yes?” He repeated, his voice low and deep as he leaned in towards her. Hazel met amber as she looked up into his eyes, before her gaze flickered down to his mouth. Her skin was on fire, and if she just stood on her tippy toes, she could close the incredibly small gap between them. Of course she knew the answer. She’d always known the answer.

“Yes,” she finally breathed. There wasn’t enough time for his smile to take her breath away before he leaned the rest of the way down and pressed his lips to hers. It was short lived as Lily meowed loudly, making them jump apart and causing the both of them to laugh. With Lily in her arms and Gajeel looking at her the way he was, Levy was pretty sure she could get used to this. He playfully ruffled his cat’s ears and smiled at her.

Yeah. She could get used to this.


	11. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SURPRIIIIIIISE POSTING THE EPILOGUE EARLY BECAUSE I CAN! Nothing too terribly long, just a short little wrap up. Thank you guys again for taking the time to read MLC and for all your kind words! Y’all are the best!

**_One Year Later_ **

As far as jobs went, being a pet sitter hadn’t been all too bad. In fact, she had cried on her last day of the job when she said goodbye to her regulars. It was a bittersweet moment, since she was leaving the company thanks to finally selling her script to a small indie movie studio, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to miss the pets she’d grown so close to. Though it had been about half a year since, she still occasionally missed spending the day with the pets. With how exhausted she was from a long day of production meetings to make sure everything was set to start shooting next week, today was one of those days. Not that she would trade her job for the world. This was the happiest she’d ever been. Honestly, life was great. She just missed cuddling with pets all day long sometimes. Which, who wouldn’t?

After pulling into her parking spot at the apartment complex, she walked into the lobby and smiled at the front desk attendant. It’s funny how she no longer felt out of place, like she had last year. How much things have changed, she thought to herself as she received a smile and good evening from him. Once she’d gotten onto the elevator, she pressed the button for the all too familiar floor and hummed to herself on the short trip up.

As she stood in front of the door, she reached into her purse to pull out her keys. It had felt very strange still not using a lockbox to get keys to enter, even though she’d been living there for about a month. Quickly opening the door, Levy couldn’t help but smile as she was greeted by Lily’s loud purring.

“Hey sweetheart,” she cooed as she closed the door and then knelt down to pet him. As she stroked his ears, she looked up to see Gajeel spread out on their couch, his snores now filling up the silence. Levy couldn’t help but chuckle and shake her head at her boyfriend and the mess of his writing materials spread across the coffee table. He’d just gotten back from a quick week stint in Europe and was still suffering some jet lag, which meant Levy had found him catching cat naps at the strangest times. She’d be lying if she said she didn’t find it adorable though. As quietly as she could, she slipped her shoes off at the door and tip toed over to Gajeel, slowly crawling on top of him.

“Gajeel,” she said lowly, leaning in and giving him a kiss on the cheek. There was no response. “Gajeel,” she whispered again, leaning down and kissing him on the other cheek. Still nothing. Levy placed her hands on his chest and leaned in once more to place a kiss on his neck, just below his ear before she breathed his name into his ear. Before she knew it, his arms were wrapped around her waist, trapping her to his chest.

“Hey shrimp,” he said into her hair before pressing a kiss to her hair. Knowing resistance was futile, she took the opportunity to nestle into the crook of his neck. “How was work?”

“Tiring,” she replied, inhaling his woodsy scent. “But everything seems ready to start shooting next week!”

“That’s great, babe,” his deep voice rumbled through his chest. If anyone asked her where her favorite place in the world was, she’d definitely tell them right here. She was actually contemplating how to make it so she could stay there forever.

“How was your day?” She asked, absentmindedly drawing patterns on his chest with her finger. Gajeel shuddered slightly under her touch, causing her to smile.

“It’s a lot better now,” he said, loosening his grip on her and using his now free hand to lift her chin up. Catching the hint, she stretched up as he leant down, his lips catching hers. At some point she was sure the electric shock that ran through her body every time he kissed her would dissipate but it didn’t seem like today was that day. Fire filled her veins as she pressed further into the kiss. Levy’s fingers snaked into Gajeel’s hair as she tried to pull herself even closer as his hands ran up her back, leaving a trail of goosebumps in their wake. A deep growl rumbled deep in his throat as she bit down lightly on his bottom lip before pulling away. She couldn’t get over how hungry his amber eyes were as he looked up at her and she couldn’t help the smile that broke across her face.

“You’re the best way to end the day, ya know,” Levy said, causing him to chuckle. Gajeel winked at her with a crooked grin that spelled nothing but trouble. Reaching his hand up to cup the side of her face as his thumb stroked over her cheek bone, he started to pull her back down to him.

“So I’ve been told,” he breathed before catching her in another fiery kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> BTW I still want to tackle a one-shot prompt once or twice a week as well, and I'm willing to try anything barring stuff like underage, and BDSM. (The first because I just won't, and the second because I am the last person you want to see try to tackle BDSM. Please save us all the suffering of that.)


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